The subcontract manufacturing market carried on growing in the third quarter of 2025. It was up 10% on the previous quarter, which had already seen dramatic growth from April onwards.
However, following a strong start, the market slowed down in September.
The CMI for the third quarter of 2025 was 113, compared with 103 for the second three months of the year.
One a month-by-month basis, July was impressively strong – by far the strongest month of the year so far and a third higher than June. Activity was lower in August, but still at a heathy level, In September though the market dropped significantly – possibly due to the direct and indirect effects of the JLR cyber-attack.
The market was also significantly up on the same quarter last year, when the CMI stood at just 53, having been knocked back by uncertainty following the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget.
Fabrication work accounted for 53% of activity and was up 18% on the previous quarter. Machining dropped from 45% of the market to 39% and by 2.5% overall. Other processes, including moulding and electronic assembly, accounted for 7% of the market and were up by 44%.
Looking at the market sector by sector, Automotive was again the largest market but dropped down sharply from the end of July. The second largest sector was Heavy Vehicles/Construction Equipment and the Industrial Machinery remained the third largest sector.
Commenting on the figures, Qimtek owner Karl Wigart said: “At the end of the second quarter we started to see larger buyers coming back with new projects, with the hope of more to come.
“That was certainly the case in July and August. However, September was very slow. There was good activity both from buyers and suppliers in the two first months but in the last it slowed down drastically from both.
“What is a bit surprising, is that quoting activity has dropped as well as lead times. When the manufacturing sector is slow you would expect highly competitive quoting for custom made parts, but that is not the case. Are suppliers of custom-made parts being cautious and holding back on growth as it is difficult and expensive to employ more staff? And perhaps they are worried about what this year’s Budget might bring?”